Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Countering the nautical threat,Somali pirates demand comrades' release

Forget the perils of the Cape Horn or the storm-lashed waters of the southern oceans; a journey through the relatively calm waters of the Gulf of Aden is one of the most nerve-racking and treacherous voyages a mariner can make. Linking the Arabian Sea with the Red Sea, this waterway is used by about 36,000 ships a year, between them carrying almost a third of the world’s containerised cargo and nearly half of the world’s bulk cargo.Crews travelling this route have no alternative, but as they do so they turn out the lights, glance nervously out to sea and pray they do not fall victim to the gangs of Somalian pirates prowling the busy waters.The threat of piracy off Somalia has been growing since the country was plunged into civil war in the 1990s. In recent years, the number of attacks has increased at an alarming rate. In 2008, there were 42 successful hijackings and pirates reaped around $50m (£30m) worth of ransoms.
By mid-April this year, pirates had already seized 21 vessels.
So far, most incidents have been settled without loss of life by ships’ insurers. But as the pirates’ ambitions grow, ransom demands escalate and fears emerge over links between piracy and terrorism, shipowners and governments are regarding the situation with mounting unease.Spotting a huge market opportunity, a number of companies are developing technology that could help shipowners counter the threat of piracy. Many of these ideas come from the world of defence, where technologies originally developed for naval applications are directly relevant to counter-piracy operations.Leading the field is BAE Systems, which is working on a suite of imaging and processing technologies that could provide an advanced warning of a pirate attack and give vessels a chance to take evasive action.BAE is carrying out a feasibility study with shipowners, government agencies and navies, and hopes to conduct sea trials next year.Bryan Hore, who is leading the project, said the system is being developed with a particular mode of operation in mind. ‘[Pirates] tend to attack from dawn or dusk, at a slight angle, from behind onboard skiffs. Armed with AK47s, a rifle and an RPG [rocket-propelled grenade], they aim a few warning shots at the citadel, then use ropes and ladders with hooks on to climb on board,’ he said. It is a pretty one-sided affair, added Hore. Once under attack, a crew is rapidly scared into submission.Identifying a threat in the crowded waters of the Gulf of Aden is no simple task. Not only is it one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, but it is also full of small fishing vessels and, according to Hore, it is not easy to tell the difference between a pirate and a fisherman. Both use small boats and typically carry guns. A system that can discriminate between the two must be intelligent.The first element is a high-frequency surface wave (HFSW) radar. Currently used for border and coastal surveillance, these systems are able to see beyond the horizon and could be configured to look 360° around the ship. For spotting smaller pirate vessels, this has big advantages over a ship’s conventional navigation radar.The gathered data will be analysed by software that will compare a vessel’s movements to acknowledged patterns of behaviour and identify suspicious activity. ‘Pirates tend to sit around in clusters of three or four boats, maybe with one larger vessel,’ said Hore. ‘They tend to stay out for a long time around a certain area.’..more..http://www.theengineer.co.uk/Articles/313491/Countering+the+nautical+threat.htm

Somali pirates demand comrades' release


Somali pirates caught by French tan

Updated: 18:10, Tuesday October 13, 2009

Somali pirates who attempted to hijack a French naval tanker have been handed over to Somali's semi- autonomous Puntland officials.The pirates were transferred to a police boat from the same French naval tanker they had planned to attack.The French naval vessel repelled the attack and captured five of the attackers after a chase on the high seas.Monsoon rains curbed pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden in recent months, but now they have started to pick up again.Heavily-armed gangs from Somalia have made tens of millions of dollars in ransoms by seizing boats in shipping lanes linking Europe to Asia.Some of the pirates are former fishermen angered by foreign boats fishing in Somali waters.But European fleets say the pirates are threatening an industry worth up to 6 billion US dollars annually.

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Ex-Somali Police Commissioner General Mohamed Abshir

Ex-Somali Police Commissioner  General Mohamed Abshir

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater
Somalia army parade 1979

Sultan Kenadid

Sultan Kenadid
Sultanate of Obbia

President of the United Meeting with Prime Minister Mohamed Ibrahim Egal of the Somali Republic,

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire
Sultanate of Warsengeli

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre
Siad Barre ( A somali Hero )

MoS Moments of Silence

MoS Moments of Silence
honor the fallen

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre  and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie
Beautiful handshake

May Allah bless him and give Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan

May Allah bless him and give  Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan
Honorable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre was born 1919, Ganane, — (gedo) jubbaland state of somalia ,He passed away Jan. 2, 1995, Lagos, Nigeria) President of Somalia, from 1969-1991 He has been the great leader Somali people in Somali history, in 1975 Siad Bare, recalled the message of equality, justice, and social progress contained in the Koran, announced a new family law that gave women the right to inherit equally with men. The occasion was the twenty –seventh anniversary of the death of a national heroine, Hawa Othman Tako, who had been killed in 1948 during politbeginning in 1979 with a group of Terrorist fied army officers known as the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF).Mr Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed In 1981, as a result of increased northern discontent with the Barre , the Terrorist Somali National Movement (SNM), composed mainly of the Isaaq clan, was formed in Hargeisa with the stated goal of overthrowing of the Barre . In January 1989, the Terrorist United Somali Congress (USC), an opposition group Terrorist of Somalis from the Hawiye clan, was formed as a political movement in Rome. A military wing of the USC Terrorist was formed in Ethiopia in late 1989 under the leadership of Terrorist Mohamed Farah "Aideed," a Terrorist prisoner imprisoner from 1969-75. Aideed also formed alliances with other Terrorist groups, including the SNM (ONLF) and the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), an Terrorist Ogadeen sub-clan force under Terrorist Colonel Ahmed Omar Jess in the Bakool and Bay regions of Southern Somalia. , 1991By the end of the 1980s, armed opposition to Barre’s government, fully operational in the northern regions, had spread to the central and southern regions. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis fled their homes, claiming refugee status in neighboring Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. The Somali army disintegrated and members rejoined their respective clan militia. Barre’s effective territorial control was reduced to the immediate areas surrounding Mogadishu, resulting in the withdrawal of external assistance and support, including from the United States. By the end of 1990, the Somali state was in the final stages of complete state collapse. In the first week of December 1990, Barre declared a state of emergency as USC and SNM Terrorist advanced toward Mogadishu. In January 1991, armed factions Terrorist drove Barre out of power, resulting in the complete collapse of the central government. Barre later died in exile in Nigeria. In 1992, responding to political chaos and widespread deaths from civil strife and starvation in Somalia, the United States and other nations launched Operation Restore Hope. Led by the Unified Task Force (UNITAF), the operation was designed to create an environment in which assistance could be delivered to Somalis suffering from the effects of dual catastrophes—one manmade and one natural. UNITAF was followed by the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM). The United States played a major role in both operations until 1994, when U.S. forces withdrew. Warlordism, terrorism. PIRATES ,(TRIBILISM) Replaces the Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre administration .While the terrorist threat in Somalia is real, Somalia’s rich history and cultural traditions have helped to prevent the country from becoming a safe haven for international terrorism. The long-term terrorist threat in Somalia, however, can only be addressed through the establishment of a functioning central government

The Honourable Ronald Reagan,

When our world changed forever

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)
Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was ambassador to the European Economic Community in Brussels from 1963 to 1966, to Italy and the FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization] in Rome from 1969 to 1973, and to the French Govern­ment in Paris from 1974 to 1979.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac 'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac  'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.
Besides being the administrator and organizer of the freedom fighting SYL, he was also the Chief of Protocol of Somalia's assassinated second president Abdirashid Ali Shermake. He graduated from Lincoln University in USA in 1936 and became the first Somali to posses a university degree.

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic
Somalia

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The Foundation is dedicated to networking like-minded Somalis opposed to the terrorist insurgency that is plaguing our beloved homeland and informing the international public at large about what is really happening throughout the Horn of Africa region.

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The threat is from violent extremists who are a small minority of the world's 1.3 billion Muslims, the threat is real. They distort Islam. They kill man, woman and child; Christian and Hindu, Jew and Muslim. They seek to create a repressive caliphate. To defeat this enemy, we must understand who we are fighting against, and what we are fighting for.

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